Storylines to watch in the second half of the MLB season

The GIST: One home run–filled and historic All-Star break later, the second half of an already epic MLB season gets underway today. From the hottest divisions to the players swinging for the record books, here are the questions on our mind as the sprint to the playoffs begins.

🍑 Can Seattle Mariner Cal Raleigh keep it up?: The year of the Big Dumper continued when Raleigh became the first catcher to win the Home Run Derby. Already boasting the second-most homers before the All-Star break in MLB history (38), Raleigh’s on pace to break NY Yankee Aaron Judge’s American League (AL) single-season HR record and rival Judge for MVP honors. Unreal.

💙 Will the defending champ LA Dodgers return to dominance?: The 2024 World Series winners are known as the perennial National League (NL) team to beat, but the Blue Crew look vulnerable as of late amid myriad pitching injuries and uncharacteristic offensive woes.

• That said, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani keeps doing Shohei Ohtani things, casually leading the NL in homers. Go ahead and pencil him in for NL MVP and, despite the recent struggles, bet on the Dodgers for a lengthy October appearance.

⁉️ Which team will top the chaotic AL East?: The reigning AL champ Yankees seemed all but guaranteed to run away with the divisional crown, but the race has suddenly turned interesting, with the surging Toronto Blue Jays flying to the top spot in the standings and the vibing Boston Red Sox forcing their way into the mix.

• Elsewhere, the Detroit Tigers are bringing the growl in the AL Central, posting the best first-half record in the bigs thanks in large part to the AL's Cy Young frontrunner, All-Star Tarik Skubal. Me-ow.